Refrigerating apparatus



Feb. 29, 1944.

H. Lu'rl-:s r-:TAL

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 6, 1942 Jo/vn HH/vl BUZZELL /ff/P ma 07.55

NN mY Patented Fel). .29, 1944 FFlcE l BEFBJGERATING AIYPARATUS Herschel Lilte. Dfirolt,

PGM

Application March 8, 1942, Serial No. 433,684

'I Claims. (Cl. (i2-408.5)

The invention relates to refrigerating apparatus generally, and more particularly to an improvement in combined ice cube freezing trays and ice cube ejector mechanisms, especially designed for` use with refrigeratingv machines having freezing chambers of a capacity to supply hold purposes.

The prior related art evidences that many attempts have been made to provide ice cube freez- 'ing trays alone, or combined with ice cube ejector ice in cube form for both commercial and houselodgement of ice cubes from the tray compartments. Among thesevarious attempts, trays of metal, while permitting of qulclg freezlngffailed to allow fordesired convenienceand ease of removal of thev trays themselves from the freezing chamber nor the frozen cubes from the tray compartments by reason of the maximum degree of adhesion occurring between the ice formations and the metal and, to accomplish this, heat ap\ plications were more often than not resorted to. Trays of rubber have-had some degree of success in this connection. particularly in the elimination of heat applications to break down the leffects of adhesion, the ice cubes here, being dislodged from the several ice cube forming com# partments by flexing thewalls of a tray. These rubber trays, however, have disadvantages, first, if the cubes are hard frozen, there is a disconcerting adhesion of the ice cubes to the walls of the cube forming compartments, and, second, by reason of the -low conductivity of rubber, excessive expenditures in time and power, and consequently in cost, being required to freeze an equal volume of ice as compared to that when ordinary metal trays are employed. Also, in the use of rubber trays, the ice formation begins initially at the top surface of the water in the tray compartments, as distinguishedfrom the initial freezing of the water at the sides and v bottom of metal trays, the top surface of the and Jonathan J. Buzzell,

Mich.

mechanisms, but few of these have function'e with'that degree of success to make them 'comb mercially practical, their ineillciency being due` to various causes, particularly to the adhesin, of '1, the ice cubes to. e tray compartment wallssuvf",y ciently to prev nt ready dislodgement andjre-jI moval and to the frosting over and sticking Kv ofjj the operative parts.

The present invention has for its primaryy ob-j ject the provision of a combined ice cube freezing tray and mechanical ejector mechanism th'atfsurf mounts these objectionable features and disadvantages of many of the .exemplified structures disclosed in the prior art, with d ue 'consideration to simplicity in design and operation, asf'well as' to comparatively low cost in manufacture, n.' f

Another object of the invention resides the provision of a compartmented tray construction' that is made entirely from any suitable non-` metallic 'material that can be molded orpressed to required form, such as, for instance, the syn-' thetic thermoplastic material known4 as1Koro seal which can be worked to desired vformit having vbeen found to be superior to natural 4rubber in that it is practically tasteless and odorless, i

that substantially no adheslon'occurs betweenthe surfaces of the ice cubes and the opposed Walls of the compartments of trays made Afrom it, and that, by reason of a higher conductivity, the time required for freezing the water content of the tray compartments and, consequently, the amount of power for refrigerating machine operation, is

reduced to a degree comparable to that when' metal freezing trays are used.

Another object of the invention has to do with the provision of a main, substantially rigid, tray structure to support cube forming compartmented tray sections which. are made from a lighter weight of the aforesaid materiaL, in combination with a frozen cube ejector mechanism, wherein,` upon manipulation of the mechanism, certain ofthe compartments of one or the other of the sectional trays will be acted, upon to detach themselves from contact with the opposed surfacesof the frozen cubes concurrently with movements of dislodgement or lift of the latter under the impetus of the mechanism, the cubes being projected upwardly of the compartments upon completion of the operative movement of the mechanism for subsequent removal and use.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages of equal importance in view, the invention resides in the certain new and useful combination. construction, and arrangement of parts. as will be hereinafter more fully described,

set forth in the appended claims. and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the improved ice cube freezing tray, with portions broken away to show certaine! the features of tray and ejector mechanism construction;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the tray unit as it appears in supported position' within a freezing chamber of a refrigerating machine, a portion of the end wall being broken away to show certain other features of tray and elector mechanism construction; and.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line I3 of Figure l.

Referring to the dra wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the invention as is exemplinedtherein is mbodied in a main opentopped tray il of substantially pan-like configuration and standard dimensions to replace the ordinary cellular type of ice cube freesing tray which is in the nature of a sliding drawer for its removal from and replacement within the freezing chamber of a refrigerating machine, for

instance, the freezing chamber A which has its interior provided with suitable supports, auch as4 the oppositely arranged rails B.

The main tray Il, as before stated, is preferably made from a non-metallic material, such as Koroseal or the like, andinas its interior divided. for instance, `into four main compartdisposed longitudinal and transverse division walls Il and il which, with the bottom wall li and the' end walls il. are

angled brackets or made to a somewhat greater thickness than that of the side walls Il. in order to impart substantial strength and rigidity to the tray structure. The side walls Il are slightly inclined in an outward direction, while the inner surfaces of the endwnll l2 and the division Walls II and Il Bre.

similarly inclined to give a. uniform downward slope to these opposed walls of said main com partments, substantially as shown and for purposes which will hereinafter be explained...

,Removably seated within each front and rear half portion of the main tray il is a multi-compartment, ice cube forming, tray section l! which is molded or pressed from a lighter weight of the same material from which the main tray il is fabricated. Each of the tray sections it has its end andvouter side walls i1 and Il inclined to conforrnV to the inclination of the end and outer side walls I2 and its end walls I1 to divide the interior of the tray the bottom of zontal portion connecting said walls at their top iThe ,space between the partition walls opens downwardly through the bottom of the tray section It for seated engagement with the il of the main tray Il, and is provided with a mediallydisposed longitudinal partition structure Il extending between 2,342,748 l vision, and side walls l2, It, and l5, respectively.

i0. Each elongated half section of each of the tray sections It is divided into a plurality of individual ice cube forming pockets, five of the same being shown by way of example, by uniformly spaced, transversely extending, partition walls 2i. Thus. each of the tray sections Il have a capacity of ten ice cubes and the whole freezing unit a capacity of twenty cubes. The transverse partition walls 2l are vertically disposed and are made to the same thickness of the material forming the whole of the sectional trays il. By outwardly inclining the opposite end walls of the several ice cube forming pockets and similarly shaping the outer side walls of the pockets at the opposite ends of each sectional row thereof, the dislodgement and removal of Vfrozen cubes is facilitated to an extent that will presently be explained.

Formed in the bottom wall Ii, along thelongitudinal center of each quater section or mein of the main tray compartment of the supporting tray iii, is a slotted opening 22 which extends the entire length of 'the compartment section between the end and transverse division walls i2 and Il. Disposed within each of the slotted openings 22, parallel thereto, is a rocker shaft 23 that has its opposite ends journalled in the end and transverse division walls I! and Il. the said walls being suitably apertured to receive trunnion-like extensions 24 at the shaft ends. If necessary or advisable, these apertures may be bushed with metal in any usual manner determined upon by the artisan, so as to provide a metal to metal bearing between the bushings (not shown) and the trunnlons 24.

As shown, each of the rocker shaft sections Il, between the supporting trunnions Il. is madf with a continuously elongated cam surface 2. which bears eccentric relation with respect the points of support of the'shaft ends in t ,Y

'aforesaid bearing apertures. The trunnions at the outer ends of the shaft sections 2l, a'f made slightly longer than those at the inner entf of the sham and' these extended portions 2s a,"-

shaped, as by being squared, for the engagemen therewith of a suitable actuator. such as th' hand-crank Il; the squared ends It 'being ac cessible for the application of the operatim` handle 21 thereto at the bearing apertures opening through the oppodte endwalls vIl of the main tray Il.

Resting upon the bottom of each main compartment of the main tray ill is a fiat metal stril or plate 2l having a length and a width to full!! overlie and close the slotted opening 22 and the dual function of preventing any bulging of the v overlying bottom walls of the individual ice cub-1:

forming pockets of a tray section il downwardlif of a slotted opening 22 vunder the expansion effects of the freezing process, and, as a follower.

to uniformly vdistribute the lifting force of tha associated shaft section 23 to substantial areef; ofthe overlying bottoms of the pockets ansi through these -to the bottoms of the frozen cubes C for Vthe dislodgement and lifting of the latter from within the pockets. As best shown in Figure 2, the follower 2l engages in depressions or channels Il which are naturally formed in the bottom walls of the pockets and. consequently.

in the bottoms of the frozen cubes themselves.r` due to the downward pressures of expansion dur' 1 ing the freezing process. The followers ffl are V thus held against lateral displlcement from their cooperative relation with respect to the rocker Y.

shafts 23 during the lifting operations. In order to prevent any abrasion of or other undue wear on the bottom walls of the pockets by the followers 28 during the lifting operations, the oppo-` site longitudinal edges thereof are rounded oil', .as at 29.

tension 3i projecting from the end of th trun-I nion opposite the squared extension, so that, with a shaft section 23 positioned within aslotted l opening 22, securement of the trunnion is to be effected bythe insertion of the screw-threaded extension 3l inwardly. of the proper bearing aperture in an end of the main tray lll and into tightenedv engagement with a complementally screw-threaded bore formed in the shaft end.

In the use of the ic'e cube freezing unit thus provided, all of the several pockets of the tray sections l6'wil1 be filled with water in a usual manner and the unit inserted into the freezing chamber A.r Uponcompleti on of the freezing process, and lit is desired'to make use of some or all of the frozen cubesfC, the tray unit I will be withdrawn from thefreezing chamber, either entirely or partially as required. By withdrawing theitray unit] outwardly to slightly more than one-half of .its length, access may be had to the frozen cubes C'in the first of the cube forming tray sections lifwhen they may be easily dislodged and elevated successively from each of the two, rightand left hand, rows of pockets by applying the hand-crank 21 to first one and then the other of the squared extensions 26 of the rocker shafts 23. v A quarter turn of the handbetween the opposed surfaces of the walls of the crank 21 and consequently of a shaft section 23 causes the cam'surface 2l` to exert an upward force against the associated follower plate 23. As the follower plate 28 is forced upwardly, its initial lift causes the bottom portions of the frozen cubes C, which bulge downwardly at opposite sides of the follower plate, to immediately separate from the underlying portions of the bottom walls and the lower connected portions of the end and side walls of the pockets. When the follower plate 28 has been elevated to the high point of the cam surface 25,\each ofthe frozen cubes C in the particular pockets will be completely loosened from the several walls thereof and projected sufficiently above the top of the tray section II for ease in removal, substantially as is shown in Figure 2.. With the frozen cubes C removed from the first of the tray sections I0, access to those in the other of the tray sections is-to be had by reversing the tray unit I0, end for end, when the ejector operation will be repeated, as in the nrst instance. While it has been stated that the tray unit l0 can be left partially housed within the freezingv diamber "A during the removal of frozen cubes C from each of the tray sections It, it will of course be understood that the tray unit I0 may be entirely removed from the freezing chamber Afor the manipulation of the rocker shafts 2-3 and thesubsequent removal of the frozen cubes C at the will of the user. However, by so removing the tray unit lli from cube forming pockets and the frozen cubes C.' the tray sections i6 will remain undisturbed in their seated positions within the'main tray I0 during operations for the ejectment ofthe ice cubes, except for the illustrated distortion of .the lower portions of the pockets, but otherwise they are subject to removal from the tray unit forr cleaning and like purposes as required. By flaring the inner surfaces of the end walls I2 and the opposed surfaces of the transverse division wall il of the main tray I0, there is an almost instant release of the pressure of expansion between the opposed transverse sides of the immee diate cube formations and the corresponding walls of the pockets upon the initial lifting movement of a shaft section 23. This cube freeing action is likewise facilitated by the similar flare of the side walls i5 and the opposed surfaces of the longitudinal division wall I3 of the main tray I0, as will be apparent.

Having thus fully described our invention, it is 1. A freezing tray unit for refrigerating ma-V chines comprising a substantially rigid main tray having its interior quartered by medially disposed longitudinal and transverse partitions to provide four compartments of equal area. and a flexible tray supported upon each half portion of the main tray at opposite sides of said transverse partition and formed te provide parallel groups of ice cube forming pockets each occupying a corresponding compartment of the main tray, said trays being formed of a thermoplastic material to the' surfaces of which a contained substance will not adhere when hard frozen, in' combination with a means carried by the main tray in association with each of its compartments for independent cooperation with the bottoms of the corresponding group of pockets to dislodge the frozen ice cubes therefrom.

2. The tray unit as in claim 1, with each of the Ythe bottom wall of the main tray and extending lengthwise of a compartment beneath the bottems of the group of pockets seated therein.

3. The tray unit as in claim 1, with each of the said means comprising a manual/1y operable cam shaft housed within a slotted opening in the bottom wall of the main tray and extending lengthwise of a compartment beneath the bottoms of the group of pockets seated therein, and a follower plate positioned within said compartment to normally close the slotted opening yand adapted to distribute the lifting force of the cam shaft uniformly over portions of the bottoms of said pockets.

4. A freezing tray unit for refrigerating machines comprising a substantially rigid main tray having its interior divided into parallel elongated ,y compartments, and a flexible tray seated upon the freezing chamberA A, it may be placed in inverted state over an open container (not'shown) for the eiectment of the frozen cubes C directly therein from the pockets of the tray sections I6,

upon successive manipulations of the rocker shafts 23. It has been ascertained that, due to the absence of any appreciable adhesion existing the main tray and having rows of cube formingnormally close the openinggand to distribute the 4 y lifting force of the cam shaft uniformly over portions of the bottoms of a respective row of said pockets.

5. A freezing trayunit for refrigerating machines comprising a substantially rigid main tray having its interior quartered by medially disposed longitudinal and transverse partitions to provide four compartments of equal area, and a flexible tray seated upon each half portion of the main tray at opposite sides of said transverse partition and formed to provide parallel groups of cube forming pockets, each group occupying a corresponding compartment of the main tray, in combination with a manually operable cam shaft housed within a slotted opening in the bottom wall of each compartment of the main tray, and a follower plate positioned within each compartment of the main tray to normally close said opening and to distribute the lifting force of the cam shaft uniformly over portions of the bottoms of the respective group of said pockets.

6. A freezing tray unit comprising a substantially rigid main tray, a flexible tray seated within the main tray, said main and flexible trays being formed of a non-metallic material to the surfaces of which a substance, contained within the flexible tray, will not adhere when frozen, an

eccentric member mounted'for operative movements within a slotted opening extending lengthwise of the bottom wall of the main tray, and a follower positioned within the main tray to normally close said opening and to distribute the lifting force of said member uniformly over a portion of the bottom wall of the flexible tray for the ejectment of a frozen content of the flexible tray therefrom.

7. A freezing tially rigid compartmented main tray, a simllarly compartmented flexible tray seated within the main tray, said main and exible trays being formed of a synthetic material to the surfaces of which a substance, contained within the flexible tray, will not adhere when frozen, a cranked shaft mounted for operative movements within a slotted opening extending lengthwise of the bottom wall of each vcompartment of the main tray, and a follower positioned within each main tray compartment to normally close said opening and to distribute the lifting force of said shaft uniformly over a portion of the bottom wall of a respective compartment of the flexible trayfor the ejectment of a frozen content therefrom.

HERSCHEL LUTES. JONATHAN J. BUZZELL.

tray unit comprising ,a substan# e 

